Sunday, 9 December 2012

ARRIVAL

Arrived in Delhi Sat 24 July, 6.35 am through customs and immigration in the blink of an eye - benefit of sitting in row 22 - and compensated for always being last for dinner! When I stepped out of the plane into the connecting walkway, where they connected was a metre deep wall of HEAT - fantastic.
The road from the airport into Delhi itself is lined with neatly stacked pallets of bricks. They are building a new metro link to the airport for the games - which start in October .....
A green and white road sign endorsed drivers "there are two things you should always follow, your dreams and the traffic regulations"
Which summed up Delhi for me.
The driver couldn't find my prebooked hotel which was in the middle of Connaught place, which is being dug up for the new metro. He drove round and round and round, then finally got out and asked directions - 'your hotel is down there, Madam', pointing to an area under construction which was behind a huge caterpillar crane. I clambered over soft concrete with paw prints in it and wheeled my bag behind me till eventually I reached the back door of the hotel. I was just so relieved to have found it, I was laughing. The staff were so nice and polite they were horrified I had to reach the hotel that way - because from the front it was really quite smart and trendy.
I met a girl from the 'Learning from Ladakh' programme called Jenn at the hotel. Then I went to sleep for the rest of the day, while the energy and dust and heat and bustle of humanity that is Delhi whirled on around me.